What the hell is happening on this dirtball we call home? So much shit swirling around the world these days and apparently Canada isn’t immune. Whether it’s true, partially true, full of hyperbole or “fake news”, reading and watching about all the issues, challenges, scandals, and non-scandals, indignities, rumours, who’s doing what to whom and for how long….it’s a mass of doom and gloom, a world fraught with shadow, despair, darkness, crappy weather and a shitload of lawsuits. (depressed now?) Personally, I’d like to see a little sunshine…..just a little sprinkle of happiness, pleasantness, kindness, thoughtfulness…..some fucking good news for a change. Even the cute kitties, puppies and wounded animals on FB are getting to be overdone…FB is saturated with them. So here’s Little Miss Sunshine to say hello and put a smile on your face. Happy Wednesday!

Actual stuff that folks said (and wrote!) either to me or within eyeshot/earshot of me at work

Or ” Divers oral and written communications which Mrs Montreuil’s little boy became privy to in the course of his appointed duties”

People say the damndest things. Here’s a collection of some of the more notable examples I encountered at work which you may enjoy, loyal reader. When dealing with the public, it is essential to be able to “think on your feet”. This necessary skill was sometimes lacking on the other side of the desk. These are in no temporal order, but “speak” for themselves.

I hope that no one thinks that I was angry when I wrote my last column. If anything, I was just disappointed, especially with the Hall and Oates concert which we attended last year. I had paid a fair bit of money, (and don’t get me going on the ticket reseller scam, or I WILL get angry!), for some ostensibly choice seats, only to be confronted by a writhing geriatric “mosh pit” poised between the stage and ourselves. Anyone who reads this and who wishes to assail me with accusations of “ageism”, I am 63 years old, so take your best shot, although the ice beneath your feet will be very thin indeed 😉!

I hope that no one thinks that I was angry when I wrote my last column. If anything, I was just disappointed, especially with the Hall and Oates concert which we attended last year. I had paid a fair bit of money, (and don’t get me going on the ticket reseller scam, or I WILL get angry!), for some ostensibly choice seats, only to be confronted by a writhing geriatric “mosh pit” poised between the stage and ourselves. Anyone who reads this and who wishes to assail me with accusations of “ageism”, I am 63 years old, so take your best shot, although the ice beneath your feet will be very thin indeed 😉!

It has indeed been a busy summer for everyone. 2016 has been a peculiar, curious and rather dramatic year. A year of extreme change, upheavals, death, excessive busyness, new connections, sheer stupidity, life transformations and adjustments — nothing has been minor. It’s all been “in our faces”, screaming and shouting at us, begging us to take notice, pleading with us to address whatever is coming at us. I think many will be glad to see the back end of 2016 and look forward with hope to 2017. No, this is not a ‘year-end’ column, just a bit of reflection on the summer that seemingly whizzed by and all that happened in just that short timeframe.